Half to l



UNITED STATES THEODORE H. VIDETO, OF HUDSON,

PATENT O FICE.

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO L. DEWART APSLEY AND JUDSON H. OOFFIN, BOTH OF SAME PLACE.

ART OF MAKING RUBBER-STRIPED WATER-PROOF FABRICS.

$PECIFICATION form-ing part of Letters Patent No. 375,234, dated December 2O 1887.

Application filed June 23, 1887. Serial No. 242,305. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE H. VIDETO, of Hudson, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new 5 and useful-Improvement in the Art of Making Rubber-Striped \Vater-Proof Fabrics, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

The object of this invention is to produce a rubber-striped water-proof fabric of a more perfect character and having a clearer and more permanent surface than any similar goods heretofore made.

My improvement consists in the succession r 5 of steps, hereinafter described, constituting a new and useful process or method of manufacture.

In carrying out my invention a long sheet of the foundation material, ordinarily made into the form of an endless belt, is supported by a pair of rollers which distend and move the fabric longitudinally in the usual way, to apply to it several successive coatings or thin films of rubber compound spread over the ex- 2 5 terior surface by the ordinary straight-edged knife, as practiced generally in making plain gossamer fabrics. After the foundation-coating is thus spread,and while it is still fresh, the straight-edged knife is removed, and in its place I substitute a striping apparatus of my inventiomwhich'may-be either the notch-edged knife set forth in my application for patent filed August 14, 1886, Serial No. 210,892, or the trough-knife of my application filed October 6, 1886, Serial No. 215,442, or any equivalent of such apparatus.

, In using my notchedged knife I extend it across the fabric in place of the straight knife removed, place in front of it upon the fabric a 40 small quantity of the semi-liquid rubber compound of the color desired to contrast with that of the coatings first applied to the material, and then move the fabric longitudinally by revolving its supporting-rollers until the fabric has made one complete circuit, during which movement a limited portion of the striping compound has passed through the notches of the knife-edge and been deposited in parallel lines upon the fresh rubber surface presented to it, while said compound could not pass, except in the thinnest of films, beneath the uncut portions of theknife-edge alternating with the notches, thus producing a rubber-striped surface upon the fabric. With the trough-knife the same result is obtained 5 5 by substantially the same operation, the only difference being that the striping compound is placed within the trough and a limited portion of it reaches the moving fabric in stripes through perforations and grooves in the bottom of the trough, instead of being placed upon the fabric in'front of the knife and pass ing in stripes through the notches therein. In either case the freshly-coated fabric is drawn beneath and in close contact with the knife, 6 recessed to allow the contrasting compound to be deposited in parallel lines upon its surface, and after one complete circuit through the machine the knife is removed, with any surplus of the compound, so that the remaining steps of the process can be taken.

After removal of the notched or trough knife, I proceed to render the fabric non-adhesive, so that it may be rolled up and vulcanized. To do this I proceed as follows in practice: I replace the straight-edged knife, apply upon the fabric in front thereof a small quantity ofdry farinaceous material, preferably corn-starch, and move the fabric longitudinally once through the machine, spreading said material uniformly and smoothly by the knife over the striped surface. I then remove the knife and use a brush, preferably a revolving one, applied to the lowermost portion of the moving belt of fabric, which, may pass several times about its supporting-rollers. By this brushing, or some equivalent operation, I remove all or as much of the farinaceous material as can be readily detached mechanically without injuring the fabric. The fabric is then treated 0 with an ordinary solution of paraffine in naphtha, or with an equivalent thereof, applied upon the striped surface in front of the replaced straightedged knife, and the fabric moved again through the machine beneath 5 said knife. This operation cleans and freshens the surface of the fabric and, in connection with the farina treatment, renders it 11011- adhesive, so that it may be rolled up and removed for such further curing or vulcanization as the rubber may require.

Some method of vulcanization is necessary to prevent the rubber surface from ultimately softening to an objectionable degree under heat or pressure. I am therefore accustomed, as a final step, to expose the fabric, in the ordinary way, to solar or artificial heat forsnch length of time and under such conditions as will cure the rubber thereon.

I claim as my invention- June, A. D. 1887.

THEO. H. VIDETO. \Vitnesses:

15 The described improvement in the art of making rubber-striped water-proof fabrics, the same consisting in coating the web with suci A. H. SPENCER, J. (3. .KENNEDY. 

